The next day, Anton was discharged from the hospital, his injuries not as severe this time.
He went to Dumbledore's office, awaiting his final judgment.
Old Dumbledore gave him two choices: either transfer to another school or temporarily stop using Dark Magic until graduation.
Without a moment's hesitation, Anton chose the second option.
Being able to stay at Hogwarts was, of course, excellent.
The biggest reason was the private tutoring relationships he had painstakingly built with Professor Snape and Professor Voldemort, relationships that were clearly difficult to replicate.
Additionally, because of the Elephant-Eating Vine, he was also on good terms with Hagrid, and he could seek his guidance when he had free time later.
Snape's exclusive potion techniques, Voldemort's ancient magic and theories, and Hagrid's magical creature crossbreeding techniques.
Each one was a rare and precious opportunity.
A palm-sized dragon, seemingly made of mithril, crawled onto his wrist, twisted its body, bit its own tail, and transformed into a bracelet.
"Aside from restricting Dark Magic, it won't affect your casting of any normal spells." Dumbledore looked at him with a smile. "Perhaps in your view, Dark Magic is indeed convenient, but please trust me, an old man of over a hundred years, I know that Dark Magic is not irreplaceable."
"This is not a rule from a headmaster to you, but a piece of advice from an old man who has experienced much."
"I hope you can walk the right path because of this, learn to use normal spells well, and continue to delve deeper into your research."
"Of course." Anton touched the silver dragon bracelet on his hand in amazement. "This is my own choice, Headmaster."
"What spell is this?" The young wizard's face was filled with disbelief.
This thing wasn't a magical item, nor was it some alchemical product, but a spell cast by Dumbledore.
Creating something from nothing like this simply shattered his worldview.
Dumbledore smiled and didn't explain, "Perhaps you can try to undo this spell yourself. I believe that when you understand it through your research, you will discover the beauty of magic."
The quill beside him automatically wrote a long list on a piece of parchment. Dumbledore personally picked up a pen and signed his name at the bottom of the list.
He pushed the parchment in front of Anton. "The Restricted Section of the library doesn't only contain Dark Magic. There are also many high-level, proper spells inside. You can borrow them freely, and if you have any questions, you can come ask me."
Anton was silent for a moment, looked at the list, then at Dumbledore, and pursed his lips.
He stood up with great sincerity, "Professor Dumbledore, thank you!"
Old Dumbledore just smiled, "I told you, you are my student."
Anton finally felt the tolerance of this old man, no wonder he could reform a Death Eater like Snape.
Personal guidance from Dumbledore? This was the biggest gain this time!
Awesome.
"Care for a Cockroach Cluster?" With the serious business concluded, Dumbledore invited Anton to try his snacks.
"No!" Anton's refusal was firm, his face full of resistance. "Who knows if there are real cockroaches inside!"
Dumbledore's hand, holding the Cockroach Cluster, froze. With a gentle squeeze, either peanut butter or guts burst out.
"..."
Anton walked out of the Headmaster's office, touching the silver bracelet on his hand. "Proper magic, huh?"
"Perhaps this is a good new beginning."
Dark Magic was destined not to be the mainstream of the world. He longed to live openly and honorably. Now that his research had taken a solid step forward, it was time to move towards a more glorious future.
Using the Cruciatus Curse to treat Lupin had reached a bottleneck. No matter how he adjusted it, it was no longer effective.
He had always wanted to find a more effective method.
Shaking the extra-long list in his hand, every book on it was extremely precious in the wizarding world. Apart from being part of the heritage of ancient pure-blood families, they were impossible to find elsewhere. Anton chuckled, "This is not a bad deal."
Feeling pleased.
It was Wednesday afternoon. After leaving Old Dumbledore's office, Anton headed straight for class.
Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by Professor Quirrell.
Professor Quirrell was clearly happy to see Anton arrive, because the originally chaotic classroom suddenly fell silent.
Wherever Anton's cold gaze passed, everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter.
Very good, it seems no one will disturb me from listening to the lecture.
He looked at Quirrell with a smile, "Professor, sorry I'm late, please continue."
Anton chose a seat in the front row and took out his notebook.
Strictly speaking, Professor Quirrell's classes weren't bad. As a Ravenclaw, he possessed profound knowledge, but his stuttering was just too hard to listen to.
Regarding this, Old Voldemort's evaluation was that it was a waste of time, and he taught Anton a recording spell.
The spell had no name, so Anton called it the "Classroom Recording Charm."
It allowed a quill to automatically record anything heard in the notebook. Then, Anton just needed to quickly browse the class notes to learn the most important content of the lesson in a few minutes.
It couldn't be more perfect.
Today, Anton was uncharacteristically distracted. Having been forbidden from using Dark Magic by Old Dumbledore, he now lacked offensive means.
His previous strategy was inherited from the old wizard: one defensive spell (Shield Charm) plus one offensive spell (Dislocating Soul Jinx), plus a trump card (Cruciatus Curse), and then he would focus all his energy on research.
It had to be said, the old wizard's influence on him was indeed quite significant.
Now, only the Shield Charm was left.
What should replace the offensive spell?
Transforming into a werewolf? No, werewolves can't cast spells, which would make his Shield Charm useless. This aspect could only be said to have future potential, but for now, he couldn't count on it.
Expelliarmus? Petrificus Totalus? Stupefy? Incarcerous? ...
Spell after spell flashed through his mind, only to be rejected one by one.
He needed to leverage his advantage in in-depth research on bionic spells to bring out an extraordinary effect from a certain spell. That was the only way to have a spell that could be sustainably upgraded and powerful enough.
For a moment, he had no clue.
After all, he was just a first-year student who had only been in school for two months.
Anyway, Hogwarts was still relatively peaceful for the whole year. If his memory served him right, two things would happen on campus next: one was Quirrell releasing the troll intended for the obstacle course on Halloween in the first semester, and the other was Quirrell's battle with Harry Potter at the end of the second semester.
And behind both of these dramas, Dumbledore was faintly watching.
It would be a miracle if anything happened to Harry Potter.
As long as he didn't meddle, everything was so peaceful and wonderful.
So, there was no rush.
Take it slow.
Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class was always the one Anton paid the most attention to. Unlike the transfiguration of his self-invented bionic spells, or the goblin Pedro's magic trick 'moving figurines', or the cursed transfiguration of the Scarecrow Jinx that Voldemort taught, this was a subject that required step-by-step in-depth study from first to seventh year.
This knowledge possessed a craft that fascinated him.
The textbook for Transfiguration was "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," which would be used until the second year.
Anton had flipped through it countless times but hadn't learned much. The valuable content came more from Professor McGonagall's verbal explanations and hands-on teaching.